250 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



been pollinated by a German Prune which stood near. This is hardly the 

 case, however, as no trace of Domestica blood can be detected in the 

 variety. It is mentioned by the American Pomological Society in its 

 catalog for 1899. 



Tree large, very vigorous, spreading, open-topped, productive; branches thorny, 

 shaggy, with long and unbranched Hmbs; branchlets willowy, slender; leaves folded 

 upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thin; 

 margin shallowly crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole slender, pubescent, with from 

 one to three small glands; blooming season late, long; flowers appearing after the leaves, 

 nearly three-quarters inch across, white, pinkish as they open, with a disagreeable odor; 

 borne in twos or threes; anthers yellow with an orange-red tinge. 



Fruit maturing later than Wild Goose; large, one and three-eighths inches by 

 one and one-eighth inches in size, obovate, slightly necked, pear-shaped, bright red, 

 covered with thin bloom; dots conspicuous; stem slender, long; flesh deep yellow, 

 juicy, coarse and fibrous, subacid, flat; of fair quality; stone cHnging, three-quarters 

 inch by three-eighths inch in size, somewhat angular, irregular-obovate, with a peculiar 

 elongated, flattened, obHque base; apex abruptly acute; surfaces rough. 



SPAULDING 



Pninus domestica 



I. Lovett Cat. 41, Col. PI. i88S. 2. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:192. 1897. 3. Mich. Sta. Bui. 

 169:243, 248. 1899. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 39. 1S99. 5. Kan. Sta. Bid. 101:121, 122, PI. V. 

 1901. 6. Waugh Plum Cult. 122. 1901. 7. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:239. 1905. 



Among the plums of comparatively recent introduction Spaulding 

 holds a conspicuous place. It is particularly highly spoken of for its good 

 quality and while not recommended for commercial orchards is often 

 mentioned as very desirable for home use. As Spaulding grows at this 

 Station, it does not sustain the reputation it has elsewhere. It is of the 

 Reine Clatide group of plums and while of high quality is not as good a 

 dessert plum as several other similar sorts. Moreover, the fruits are small 

 and too light in color to be especially attractive in appearance. The pliuns, 



trees for sale, a business with which he soon conibined a fruit plantation in which he collected and 

 tested all the plums that could be grown in his climate, comprising the great majority of the varie- 

 ties of American species and of the Oriental plums. This work began in 1870, since which time 

 no man has done more to popularize and improve native plums than Mr. Kerr. His most valuable 

 work has' been in testing varieties, where his knowledge of this fruit, his judgment and his sense 

 of discrimination have made his opinion, as set forth in his nursery catalog and in the reports of 

 horticultural societies, authoritative. He has, too, done considerable work in breeding plums. 

 Choptank, Sophie and Maryland probably representing the best of his endeavors in originating new 

 plums. It is a duty and a pleasure to acknowledge here the great services rendered by Mr. Kerr 

 in the preparation of The Plums of New York. 



